First Impressions
by angeleyes2838
Summary: If first impressions is what we rely on when we are reading, then we better be damn sure that our first impressions are correct.
1. Together At Last Or Not

**First Impressions: Together At Last – Or Not**

It was like their first date; noisy and bright but still containing that air of magic. Looking around at the people seated, Kate's eyes fell on the man in front of her. Smiling, she picked up her wine glass and took a sip, mentally sighing as the bitter liquid ran down her throat and settled in her stomach.

"Kate," he said, his tone affectionate.

"Mmm?" She looked up from observing her wine glass, her green eyes meeting his shade of brown.

"Kate...you know how much I love you right?" he asked, breaking into a small boyish smile.

She could only smile in return, unsure of where this was going. She'd read a few stories of things going wayward when a man asked his girl that question, _'you know how much I love you right?'_, and the fact that now she'd been asked that, made her want to cringe.

"How was your day?" she asked, wanting to get away from _you know how much I love you right_ territory. He smiled at her, acknowledging her question with a nod of the head.

"Yeah, it was okay. Just normal, but you should know that – we're in the same line of work," he replied, winking at her.

Kate felt her cheeks flush pink and she ducked her head. Looking up again she was met with her wine glass refilled and the sight of a lone violinist making his way toward their table. Her eyes widened and she felt her breathing quicken. _Is this really happening?_

Her date continued to smile at her, reaching a hand into his pocket and pulling out a black velvet box. Her eyes continued to widen and then slowly started to narrow as the violinist came closer and the box was flipped open.

She gasped. Inside was a princess cut diamond ring. She stared at it, too overcome with shock to say anything coherent.

"Kate?" He got down on one knee, taking Kate's hand in one of his own while the other held the velvet box. "Kate, will you do me the greatest honour in the world by becoming my wife?"

She froze. She didn't know what to say. Looking at the man kneeling before her, two words came to mind: yes and no.

She chose the latter.

"No." He looked at her in shock, withdrawing his hand from hers slightly. His eyes wavered momentarily, before they widened as the reality of her words hit home.

"Kate," he started.

But it was too late. She was already downing her full glass of wine and standing up to leave. As she looked down at him, still kneeling at her feet, she gave him a sympathetic look. Turning, she walked away, leaving a bewildered man to nurse a broken heart. Stopping, she looked around again, meeting the gaze of the man she had once loved.

"I'm sorry...Jim."


	2. Shoot Me from the Forest

**First Impressions: Shoot Me from the Forest**

She ran. It was all she could do. Run. She ducked under low hanging branches and jumped over fallen tree trunks, dodging around overgrown bushes before pressing herself up against large rocks every time she heard footsteps behind her. Cradling the gun in her hands, she wiped the sweat off her forehead before continuing to run.

Breathing heavily, she slowed down once more, collapsing unceremoniously behind a large mass of mangroves. Making sure the gun was still safely in her grasp, she sunk back into the shadows, peering out from behind them to see if anyone had followed her.

Sighing in relief, she heard her heartbeat slow down and her breathing return to its regular pattern. Resting her chin against her knees, she closed her eyes and rested. It had been a long three hours of running for her. Three long hours. Falling into unconsciousness, a black pit of nothing, she slept.

---

Her ears instantly picked up footsteps and she was wide awake in seconds. Looking around at her surroundings with wide eyes, she tightened her grip around the gun. Getting up slowly, she crept back further into the shadows of the mangroves, thankful for the camouflage uniform the navy insisted be worn by all the sailors and officers.

Placing a hand over her mouth to muffle her breathing, she slowly stood up, peering over the bushes to see if a body belonged to the footsteps. Her eyes widened, feeling a gasp reach her lips. Biting down hard on her tongue, she stepped back, accidentally stepping on a twig.

"I found you," a voice whispered in her ear.

She froze, but instantly melted as she felt the person's hot breath against her ear. Turning slowly, green crashed with blue and a smirk made its way onto his face.

"Well?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow, stepping closer and bridging the small gap between them.

It was her turn to smirk. "Come on, shoot me – or are you too scared?"

He brought his hand from behind his back and pressed the matching gun he held to her side. It was cold and hard against her, causing her to lean in closer to the man who would take her life. His scent was still the same as she remembered and so was the broadness of his chest. She looked him in the eye and repeated the question.

He responded swiftly, pushing her against the tree before leaning in and slowly pressing his lips to hers. Her lips were soft against his and his tasted like the salt found in every ocean and sea they crossed. It was brief, perhaps too brief for each person's liking. Pulling back, he whispered against her ear.

"I won."

He pulled the trigger and she felt a dull, hard object push through her clothes and skin. She felt a slight dampness from where the object hit her. She had been hit and her life had been taken, she was out.

A loud siren sounded somewhere from above and Mike looked down at Kate's slightly swollen lips. Cocking his head to the side he smiled, laughing slightly as paint dripped from her side. She returned and she leaned her head back against the tree.

"You see... you didn't win... _I_ did. You just couldn't stay away."


	3. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**First Impressions: Wrong Place, Wrong Time**

_Canberra_

_Time: 1300 hours_

"Ah, Mike, are you going to tell me why we're in Canberra? I just got a phone call from Nikki and apparently the replacement CO and XO are giving them hell."

He laughed, shrugging slightly as they entered an air-conditioned building. They were instantly greeted by a man in black who showed them to a private conference room.

"You haven't answered my question Mike," Kate whispered, gently elbowing him.

He looked down at her and smiled. "It's a conference. The brass wanted a few of the Armidale Patrol Boat COs in for a meeting about what's happening up there and a few other things."

"And why am _I_ here?"

He smirked. "Would you believe me if I said I wanted the company?"

She raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as they stopped walking. "You're serious aren't you?" she asked.

"Maybe just a little..." he said quietly, a small smile playing at his lips.

The man who had greeted them opened the door to the conference room before closing it as they entered. People were already seated at the long oval table, talking amongst themselves and arguing about certain things involving job. Mike and Kate seated themselves at the only two spare spots available – either end of the table.

As they sat, an elderly man stood. "Firstly, I would like to welcome you all today to this meeting of the Australian Patrol service – Armidale Class. My name is Captain Jeff Kennedy; I am the representative of Vice Admiral Russ Crane, and I will be conducting this meeting today, as Vice Admiral Crane is busy in another meeting. He had called this meeting today to make sure everyone is up to date with what is going on up in the northern waters. First of all, I'd like to call upon Lieutenant-Commander Mike Flynn of HMAS Hammersley."

Mike raised his eyebrows, catching Kate's amused glance at the other end of the table. He was nowhere near prepared for this. Standing, he cleared his throat and continued. "Well, I was only told to come here two days ago, so I'm a bit underprepared for this."

"If you, want we can come back to you," replied Captain Kennedy.

"No, I'll be fine. Better get this over and done with. But I'm sure my executive officer will be able to help me."

Kate's eyes widened, and she hesitantly stood. It was like a courtroom, each representative glaring at each other from across the room. "Sir," she said, her tone cold. He gestured for her to start first and she growled slightly before opening her mouth to speak, "So far Hammersley has been caught up in stopping drug trafficking as well people smugglers. We've been busy with peace keeping missions in Samaru as well, but other than that, we haven't been up to anything interesting; although we do have a drug ring we're still chasing around in the north."

She smiled, passing the torch back to Mike. "I don't think I have anything else to add to that, other than I'm extremely glad I decided to take my X with me."

There was a small round of laughter as they both sat back down. Mike smirked as Kate glared back at him, and the meeting continued as another commander stood to talk.

At the end of the meeting, an invitation was issued for all of them to attend a cocktail party in celebration of Vice Admiral Crane's fifth year as Chief of Navy. Women were to wear cocktail dresses and men to wear their blacks, it was winter after all.

---

_Cocktail Party_

_Attire: Winter uniform i.e. blacks_

_Time: 1900 hours_

His eyes flickered upwards, skimming over the crowd of people at the top of the staircase before coming to rest on one person in particular. He felt his mouth pull down, and his eyes widen. Grinning boyishly, he took in the sight coming towards him and stood a little straighter.

"You look stunning," he commented, smirking as she looped her arm within his.

Looking up to meet his gaze, she smiled back, reaching up to wipe away shaving cream. "Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself."

"Any particular reason you chose this dress? I haven't seen you wear it since when we were together." His eyes skimmed over the black dress, just stopping above the knee before all that was left was bare flesh. Drawing his eyes upwards, back to her face, he couldn't help but grin again. She was beautiful, and he was glad that she had come with him to Canberra – he would've been so lost without her.

"I thought that it was time to bring it out again; it's been a long time," she replied.

"I know..."

She sighed, blushing slightly as Mike leant down and spontaneously kissed her cheek. A questioning look graced her face and he shrugged.

"Because I can," he answered. "Right now, we're at a party – a celebration, we aren't CO and XO here."

"But we still _are_ Mike."

"So?"

"You're very insistent aren't you?"

"You know me too well Kate." She could hear the smile in his tone and she laughed slightly as he took her hand in his and led her to the dance floor. They began to dance to the slow rhythm, inching closer every few steps until there was only an inch separating them.

"Come outside," he whispered, his breath tickling her cheek.

She readily volunteered, following him out to the balcony, her hand clutched tightly in his. The moonlight fell across her face, illuminating her green eyes as she gazed up at the blue ones in front of her. They went into a corner and he leaned her against the railing, pressing their bodies closer as he leaned down to press his lips to hers in a desperate need. She let out a small moan, leaning into the kiss and surrendering to his touch.

"Sir?"

A shocked voice broke them apart, and they both turned to look at the person. Mike stood in front of Kate, allowing her some privacy as she smoothed down her dress.

"Nav," came Mike's voice, shock overcoming him. "You're supposed to be on Hammersley... up north... chasing up drug rings."

"Yes – but I'm not. I'm here. In Canberra. Just having witnessed you making out with... Kate..." Her voice came over a pitch higher than usual, but that could be blamed on the shock of seeing her two senior officers in a make out session.

"What are you _doing _here?" he asked, his tone hinting at _overly annoyed commanding officer_.

"I was invited to this party," she replied, still in shock. "I was only told _after_ I'd called Kate."

"Who else is here?" questioned Kate, butting in before Mike could say anything else.

"Just me and Commander Marshall; but... what were you two _doing_?"

"What do you think we were doing Nav?" Mike rolled her eyes, pulling at Kate's hand. "Come on, I need a drink." Leaving Nikki standing alone at the balcony, they headed towards the bar, ordering a beer and red wine before moving off into a corner.

Nikki's eyes followed them, and she smirked, pulling out her phone. "They are just begging for gossip."


End file.
